Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4

The Sons of Anarchy soundtrack is often wrought with performances as gripping and tense as the show’s plot lines. Most of this comes courtesy of the show's house band, The Forest Rangers—a group of Hollywood A-list session musicians who feature a different guest singer for nearly every song here. Curtis Stigers croons the show’s twang-rock theme song with the opening “This Life” before actress Katey Sagal coos a cover of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” like she’s been singing it every day in the shower for most of her life. When backing Audra Mae on a down-home version of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” The Forest Rangers unplug and simmer down to cook up a beautifully spare country-porch accompaniment. Another standout with a similarly sleepy vibe is the country-folk instrumental rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son,” performed by Lyle Workman & Bob Thiele. The Lions' contemporary rendition of Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” plays like early-'90s Jane’s Addiction. The White Buffalo closes with a somber take on “House of the Rising Sun.”